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Beasts of No Nation

By Uzodinma Iweala

Paperback

£9.99

A stunning novel about a child-soldier in Africa that introduces a brilliant young writer and will be much discussed.

Agu is just a boy when war arrives at his village. His mother and sister are rescued by the UN, while he and his father remain to fight the rebels. 'Run!' shouts his father when the rebels arrive. And Agu does run. Straight into the rebels' path. In a vivid, sparkling voice, Agu tells the story of what happens to him next. His story is shocking and painful, and completely unforgettable.

Beasts of No Nation gives us an extraordinary portrait of the chaos and violence of war. It is a gripping and remarkable debut.

Biographical Notes

Uzodinma Iweala is a Nigerian born in the United States. He currently lives in New York City. His first novel, Beasts of No Nation, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

Other details

ISBN:
9780719567537

Publication date:
05 Jun 2006

Page count:
192

Imprint:
John Murray

A work of visceral urgency and power: it heralds the arrival of a major talent — Amitav Ghosh

Extraordinary . . . you don't come across writing like this very often — Bookseller

So scorched by loss and anger that it's hard to hold and so gripping in its sheer hopeless lifeforce that it's hard to put down — Guardian

A harrowing and compelling vision . . . the narrator's voice is so authentic you have to check you are still reading fiction . . . This is a novel which leaves an impression like a blood-soaked hand print, disturbing not only for the terror around this cleaving, pulverising slayer, but the terror turning to 'ennui' within him. To call it shocking would be to do it a disservice. To call the writing beautiful would hardly be praise. To call the book staggering would be an understatement — Waterstones Books Quarterly

The power of his material and its hideous relevance rolls all before it . . . This book about children that is in no sense a children's book deserves to be read — Independent

A simple and brutal account of war . . . Beasts of No Nation is a raw, compelling first novel — Literary Review

'Extraordinary ... you don't come across writing like this very often.' — The Bookseller

This is a work of visceral urgency and power: it heralds the arrival of a major talent — Amitav Ghosh

'So scorched by loss and anger that it's hard to hold and so gripping in its sheer hopeless lifeforce that it's hard to put down.' — Ali Smith, Guardian

'A harrowing and compelling vision ... the narrator's voice is so authentic you have to check you are still reading fiction ... This is a novel which leaves an impression like a blood-soaked hand print, disturbing not only for the terror around this cleaving, pulverising slayer, but the terror turning to 'ennui' within him. To call it shocking would be to do it a disservice. To call the writing beautiful would hardly be praise. To call the book staggering would be an understatement' — Waterstones Books Quarterly

'The power of his material and its hideous relevance rolls all before it ... This book about children that is in no sense a children's book deserves to be read' — Independent

'First-time novelist Uzodinma Iweala has made a virtue of simplicity and, in beautifully unadorned language, has captured the universal tragedy of war and its victims.' — Telegraph/Seven, Sally Cousins

'Linguistically ingenious, Beasts of No Nation is a remarkable debut, a hugely resonant discourse on an uncomfortable subject.' — Observer, Helen Zaltzman

'This sad, unforgettable novel is a fitting testament to the countless Agus who continue to kill and be killed across that most tragic of continents.' — Daily Telegraph, David Isaacson

'A chilling work of fiction that has visceral impact.' — Guardian/The Guide

'Beasts of No Nation is written with the authority of someone who knows what they're talking about' — London Review of Books

'A simple and brutal account of war ... Beasts of No Nation is a raw, compelling first novel' — Literary Review

Hodder & Stoughton

A Gift in December

Jenny Gladwell

Authors:

Jenny Gladwell

Journalist Jane Brooke is getting over a career high...and love life low. When her editor nominates her to join some glamorous bloggers and cynical journalists on a trip to Norway for a feature on the story behind the famous Norwegian Christmas tree, dubbed the Queen of the Forest, which the country gifts each year to the UK to be displayed in Trafalgar Square, she feels only annoyance. But Jane hasn't anticipated discovering a moving story behind this historic gift, and she certainly isn't expecting to find love amidst all that snow, but this trip could turn out to be the perfect Christmas present.

Miracle Creek

Angie Kim

Authors:

Angie Kim

A thrilling debut novel for fans of Liane Moriarty and Celeste Ng about how far we'll go to protect our families?and our deepest secretsMy husband asked me to lie. Not a big lie. He probably didn't even consider it a lie, and neither did I, at first . . .In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine?a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic "dives" with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos' small community.Who or what caused the explosion? Was it the mother of one of the patients, who claimed to be sick that day but was smoking down by the creek? Or was it Young and Pak themselves, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? The ensuing trial uncovers unimaginable secrets from that night?trysts in the woods, mysterious notes, child-abuse charges?as well as tense rivalries and alliances among a group of people driven to extraordinary degrees of desperation and sacrifice.Angie Kim's Miracle Creek is a thoroughly contemporary take on the courtroom drama, drawing on the author's own life as a Korean immigrant, former trial lawyer, and mother of a real-life "submarine" patient. Both a compelling page-turner and an excavation of identity and the desire for connection, Miracle Creek is a brilliant, empathetic debut from an exciting new voice.

A Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult

Authors:

Jodi Picoult

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A writer the world needs to be reading right now' The Independent'An apposite and nuanced novel... Picoult writes about an emotive, controversial issue with unflinching precision.' Red'A very special novel about a very difficult subject.' Grazia'Her intelligent, meticulously researched novels explore ethical dilemmas through heartrending, headline-grabbing scenarios' The Sunday TimesThe Center for women's reproductive health offers a last chance at hope - but nobody ends up there by choice.Its very existence is controversial, and to the demonstrators who barricade the building every day, the service it offers is no different from legalised murder.Now life and death decisions are being made horrifyingly real: a lone protester with a gun has taken the staff, patients and visitors hostage.Starting at the tensest moment in the negotiations for their release, A Spark of Light unravels backwards, revealing hour by urgent hour what brought each of these people - the gunman, the negotiator, the doctors, nurses and women who have come to them for treatment - to this point.And certainties unwind as truths and secrets are peeled away, revealing the complexity of balancing the right to life with the right to choose.

Broken Things

Lauren Oliver

The End of Loneliness

Benedict Wells

A Keeper

Graham Norton

Authors:

Graham Norton

*** SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS ***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'A compelling and moving story, expertly told, that will draw you in and keep you in its grip until the last page.' DAILY EXPRESS'Magnificent ... his writing is evocative and perfect. His grasp of human loneliness and longing is beautiful and comforting.' MARIAN KEYES'Atmospheric, creepy and impossible to put down.' the TIMES'I raved about Holding two years ago ... A Keeper is even better. A powerful, very sad story, beautiful writing, two time frames that are perfectly balanced. Outstanding. Will easily be one of my books of 2018.' JOHN BOYNE'A gripping, thoughtful tale about the search for identity, belonging and self-possession.' OBSERVER'Moving and darkly funny.' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'Smart, well-written and thoroughly entertaining.' IRISH INDEPENDENT'It's a sad and lovely book, brimful of tenderness and compassion, where the revelations of the past upturn the perceptions of the present.' SUNDAY EXPRESS'Charming and tender, a complete joy.' SUNDAY MIRROR'Perfectly crafted, a beautiful, gripping account of Irish memory and deceit. A terrific achievement.' ANDREW O'HAGANFrom the bestselling author of Holding comes a masterly tale of secrets and ill-fated loves set on the coast of Ireland.Dear Lonely Leinster Lady, I'm not really sure how to begin . . .The truth drifts out to sea, riding the waves out of sight. And then the tide turns.Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother's death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother's presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light. 40 years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless wind that circles her as she hurries further into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea. She has no sense of where she is going, only that she must keep on.This compelling new novel confirms Graham Norton's status as a fresh, literary voice, bringing his clear-eyed understanding of human nature and its darkest flaws.* * *Praise for Holding, winner of the Irish Book Awards' Book of the Year 2016'Poised and perceptive' Sunday Times'... a deftly plotted story as moving as it is compelling' Sunday Mirror'Deeply accomplished ... brilliantly observed' Good Housekeeping'... one of the more authentic debuts I've read in recent years ... in such an understated manner, eschewing linguistic eccentricity ... in favour of genuine characters and tender feeling ... this is a fine novel' John Boyne, Irish Times'It is beautiful and yet devastatingly sad' Daily Express'Strenuously charming ... surprisingly tender' Metro 'Heartwarming and observant' Stylist

Moscow, Midnight

John Simpson

Authors:

John Simpson

MP Patrick Macready has been found dead in his flat. The coroner rules it an accident, a sex game gone wrong. Jon Swift is from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight - and something about his friend's death doesn't seem right. Then days after Macready's flat is apparently burgled, Swift discovers that his friend had been researching a string of Russian government figures who had met similarly 'accidental' fates. When the police refuse to investigate further, Swift gets in touch with his contacts in Moscow, determined to find out if his hunch is correct. Following the lead, he is soon drawn into a violent underworld, where whispers of conspiracies, assassinations and double-agents start blurring the line between friend and foe.But the truth will come at a price, and it may cost him everything.

The Scarlet Nightingale

Alan Titchmarsh

Authors:

Alan Titchmarsh

As war rages across Europe, one young woman is torn between love and loyalty.Set in wartime London and occupied France, this is a thrilling story of love, danger and sacrifice from bestselling novelist Alan Titchmarsh.It is the late 1930s when seventeen-year-old Rosamund Hanbury leaves behind the endless summers of her coastal Devonshire home for the fast pace of high society London. Under the expert guidance of her formidable aunt, the country mouse learns how to act like a lady, hosting dinner parties and rubbing shoulders with Britain's most influential. And when the enigmatic Harry Napier sweeps her off her feet at London's famous Café de Paris she could almost forget that Britain has declared war. But the Phoney War ends. Harry is posted, London reels from the first bombings of the Blitz and Rosamund suffers a devastating personal loss that leaves her all the more determined to do her bit for the war effort. Joining the Special Forces she is sent to work alongside the Resistance on a top secret mission in France. It is here that her courage and loyalty are truly put to the test. And where she learns that no one is what they seem: at home or abroad ...

Gwendy's Button Box

Stephen King, Richard Chizmar

Authors:

Stephen King, Richard Chizmar

'A resonant novella set in one of King's signature locales: the small town of Castle Rock, Maine' Washington PostThe small town of Castle Rock, Maine, has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told...until now.There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson takes the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.One day, while Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground and the chink of an aluminium bat hitting a baseball, a stranger calls out to her. On a bench in the shade sits a man in a small, neat black hat. He offers Gwendy a mahogany box with coloured buttons. The buttons will produce gifts, such as chocolate which can make you slimmer. But he warns her that the gifts will be 'small recompense for the responsibility.'Journey back to Castle Rock in this chilling new novella by Stephen King, bestselling author of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and Richard Chizmar, award-winning author of A Long December

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free

Andrew Miller

Authors:

Andrew Miller

The rapturously acclaimed new novel by the Costa Award-winning author of PURE, hailed as 'excellent', 'gripping', 'as suspenseful as any thriller', 'engrossing', 'moving' and 'magnificent'.One rainswept winter's night in 1809, an unconscious man is carried into a house in Somerset. He is Captain John Lacroix, home from Britain's disastrous campaign against Napoleon's forces in Spain.Gradually Lacroix recovers his health, but not his peace of mind. He will not - cannot - talk about the war or face the memory of what took place on the retreat to Corunna. After the command comes to return to his regiment, he lights out instead for the Hebrides, unaware that he has far worse to fear than being dragged back to the army: a vicious English corporal and a Spanish officer with secret orders are on his trail.In luminous prose, Miller portrays a man shattered by what he has witnessed, on a journey that leads to unexpected friendships, even to love. But as the short northern summer reaches its zenith, the shadow of the enemy is creeping closer. Freedom, for John Lacroix, will come at a high price. Taut with suspense, this is an enthralling, deeply involving novel by one of Britain's most acclaimed writers.'His writing suspends life until it is read and is a source of wonder and delight' Hilary Mantel on Casanova in the Sunday Times

Four

Andy Jones

Authors:

Andy Jones

Two couples. One reckless night. 'Secrets and lies have a nasty habit of coming out at the least appropriate time . . . moving, thought-provoking and beautifully written' Daily Mail'Engaging . . . an incredibly emotional story' The Book Bag'We love this novel and didn't see the ending coming. . .' Closer**************In the time they've known each other, Sally, Al and Mike have shared - well, almost everything.Sally and Al have been married for seven years, though now their relationship is hanging by a thread.Sally and Mike have been best friends since university. And on many occasions something more.Mike and Al have been friends and colleagues for many years. Yet with Al poised to become Mike's boss, their friendship comes under threat.And now there's Mike and Faye. They haven't been together long, but Mike's pretty sure that, this time, it's the real deal.As the three old friends sit on a train heading towards Brighton to meet Faye, little do they know that after this weekend, the four of them will have shared . . . everything.They all know they have made a mistake. But they could never have imagined the consequences.**************Praise for Andy Jones:'What happens the morning after the night before, when the night before was when you did the most reckless thing of your life? I loved Andy Jones's stylish portrayal of four people who make way too much history in one night, and just couldn't put it down until I found out the fate of each of them' Catherine Isaac'I'm always wary about comparing books but, just this once, I'm going to make an exception because for me this is one of those few novels that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as One Day. It has everything you could want from a romcom and then some' - Sun on The Trouble With Henry and Zoe

The Last of Our Kind

Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre

Authors:

Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre

'A word of advice: don't start reading this page-turner at bedtime, or you'll be staying up all night.' Psychologies, France WINNER OF THE GRAND PRIX DU ROMAN AND THE ACQUI STORIA PRIZE. Werner Zilch was adopted as an infant, and knows nothing of his biological family. But when, in 1970s New York, he meets the family of Rebecca, the woman he has fallen in love with, a mysterious link means he must uncover the truth of his past, or run the risk of losing her. Spanning 1945 Dresden, the Bavarian Alps and uncovering Operation Paperclip, this is a riveting novel of family and love, for anyone who loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Storyteller, beautifully translated from French by Adriana Hunter. 'Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre weaves an enigmatic, funny, sensuous web, crossed by characters which we will struggle to forget' Le Figaro

The Sealwoman's Gift

Sally Magnusson

Authors:

Sally Magnusson

A Zoe Ball ITV Book Club Pick'Sally Magnusson has taken an amazing true event and created a brilliant first novel. It's an epic journey in every sense: although it's historical, it's incredibly relevant to our world today. We had to pick it' Zoe Ball Book Club***SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN 2018 & THE SALTIRE LITERARY AWARD FOR BEST FICTION*** 'A remarkable feat of imagination ... I enjoyed and admired it in equal measure' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent 'A powerful tale of Barbary pirates ... richly imagined and energetically told.' Sunday Times - 100 Best Books to Read This Summer'Engrossing' Sunday Express 'Fascinating ... a really, really good read' BBC R2 Book Club'The best sort of historical novel' Scotsman 'A lyrical tale' Stylist 'A poetic retelling of Icelandic history' Daily Mail 'Compelling stuff' Good Housekeeping'An extraordinarily immersive read ... examining themes of motherhood, identity, exile and freedom' Guardian1627. In a notorious historical event, pirates raided the coast of Iceland and abducted 400 people into slavery in Algiers. Among them a pastor, his wife, and their children.In her acclaimed debut novel Sally Magnusson imagines what history does not record: the experience of Asta, the pastor's wife, as she faces her losses with the one thing left to her - the stories from home - and forges an ambiguous bond with the man who bought her. Uplifting, moving, and witty, The Sealwoman's Gift speaks across centuries and oceans about loss, love, resilience and redemption.Chosen for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club (a really, really, good book) and the ITV Zoe Ball/Specsavers Book Club (the quality of the writing is amazing).'Icelandic history has been brought to extraordinary life... An accomplished and intelligent novel' Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, author of Why Did You Lie?'Vivid and compelling' Adam Nichols, co-translator of The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson

A Game of Ghosts

John Connolly

Authors:

John Connolly

The Number One bestseller.It is deep winter. The darkness is unending.The private detective named Jaycob Eklund has vanished, and Charlie Parker is dispatched to track him down. Parker's employer, Edgar Ross, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has his own reasons for wanting Eklund found. Eklund is no ordinary investigator. He is obsessively tracking a series of homicides and disappearances, each linked to reports of hauntings. Now Parker will be drawn into Eklund's world, a realm in which the monstrous Mother rules a crumbling criminal empire, in which men strike bargains with angels, and in which the innocent and guilty alike are pawns in a game of ghosts . . .

Speak No Evil

Uzodinma Iweala

Authors:

Uzodinma Iweala

'Elegant and elegiac' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Guardian 'A writer of spectacular talent' ObserverOn the surface, Niru leads a charmed life. Raised by two attentive parents in Washington, DC, he's a top student and a track star at his prestigious private high school. Bound for Harvard, his prospects are bright. But Niru has a painful secret: he is queer - an abominable sin to his conservative Nigerian parents. No one knows except his best friend, Meredith - the one person who seems not to judge him. When his father accidentally finds out, the fallout is brutal and swift. Coping with troubles of her own, however, Meredith finds that she has little left emotionally to offer him. As the two friends struggle to reconcile their desires against the expectations and institutions that seek to define them, they find themselves speeding towards a future more violent and senseless than they can imagine. Neither will escape unscathed. Speak No Evil is a novel about the power of words and self-identification, about who gets to speak and who has the power to speak for other people.

Earth Storm

Mons Kallentoft

he

John Connolly

Elmet

Fiona Mozley

Authors:

Fiona Mozley

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 AND THE PFD/SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARDWINNER OF A SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD AND THE POLARI PRIZE'A quiet explosion of a book, exquisite and unforgettable' The Economist'A cleverly constructed rural Gothic fable . . . Elmet is a marvellous achievement' TLS'Pastoral idyll, political exposé, cosy family saga and horror tale, it reads like a traditional children's story that turns into a gangster film: Hansel and Gretel meets The Godfather' Sunday TimesDaniel is heading north. He is looking for someone. The simplicity of his early life with Daddy and Cathy has turned menacing and fearful. They lived apart in the house that Daddy built for them in the woods with his bare hands. They foraged and hunted. Cathy was more like their father: fierce and full of simmering anger. Daniel was more like their mother: gentle and kind. Sometimes, their father disappeared, and would return with a rage in his eyes. But when he was at home, he was at peace. He told them that the little copse in Elmet was theirs alone. But that wasn't true. Local men, greedy and watchful, began to circle like vultures. All the while, the terrible violence in Daddy grew.Brutal and beautiful in equal measure, Elmet is a compelling portrayal of a family living on the fringes of contemporary society, as well as a gripping exploration of the disturbing actions people are capable of when pushed to their limits.

The Erstwhile

Brian Catling

The Fourth Bear

Jasper Fforde

Authors:

Jasper Fforde

The Gingerbreadman - psychopath, sadist, convicted murderer and cake/biscuit - is loose on the streets of Reading. It isn't Jack Spratt's case. Despite the success of the Humpty Dumpty investigation, the well publicised failure to prevent Red Riding-Hood and her Gran being eaten once again plunges the Nursery Crime Division into controversy. Enforced non-involvement with the Gingerbreadman hunt looks to be frustrating until a chance encounter at the oddly familiar Deja-Vu Club leads them onto the hunt for missing journalist Henrietta 'Goldy' Hatchett, star reporter for The Daily Toad. The last witnesses to see her alive were The Three Bears, comfortably living out a life of rural solitude in Andersen's wood. But all is not what it seems. Are the unexplained explosions around the globe somehow related to missing nuclear scientist Angus McGuffin? Is cucumber-growing really that dangerous? Why are National Security involved? But most important of all: How could the bears' porridge be at such disparate temperatures when they were poured at the same time?